They managed to make an elegant product without the benefit of industrial designers.

There is a lot which makes sense in the longer view or is it the short view? Anyone can say about the engineering before it went to specs, before it went to actual many steps. Then there were different companies who could cast the parts. I think that rarely we see the fully stylized prototypes. Even after these different steps, there are vestiges of a flair or curve. There were reasons beyond style to have shapes which fit the mechanism and we lost that. Years ago, when the tall stacks were blown up and saving the planet for China. All the pattern makers and castings' productions drew to closure. No problem. It is done on the other side of the world but not for long. Mao mentioned "great leap forward" and to the tune of incomprehensible lives, the blood into the mother earth raised new generations. We see this dearly and not too much.
A leap is slides and housings being square ish. Style or filigery relating to a distant culture (ours) makes no sense.

In a way, I would like to delete the above. I can consider because I already know that "style" plays an important part to a machine. That's just the way it is. Many of the great machines could have had flatter surfaces but the engineers knew stuff. You folks are way above me but an ellipse or curve made more sense than a rectangle in many cases. It doesn't with newer because everything is more flat out production.

I actually rented one of those devices two years ago from a local rental place in Pennsylvania, when I went tp pick up my 4-4-0 locomotive. Couldn’t believe they were still in use. But a very practical and useful tool.

I actually rented one of those devices two years ago from a local rental place in Pennsylvania, when I went tp pick up my 4-4-0 locomotive. Couldn’t believe they were still in use. But a very practical and useful tool.

Glenn

I'm not certain, but isn't a johnson bar the throttle on a steam locomotive?

That handy tool is a lever dolly or machinery mover's lever. Can still be found in McMaster Carr. A very handy home shop project; a bit of oak timber, couple of aluminum disks for wheels and a bit of scrap metal. Made one years ago and use it periodically.

I knew it was a Johnson Bar but didn't know if the handle was newly made. Either way, they are great things. Look at the wood grain and understand what it signifies. We used to call it "pin oak" around here and maybe that was wrong. It is super tough wood when the grains are right.
Yes "jaw breaker" as if "side show bob" stepped on a rake. I bought mine at a machinery auction and it didn't have the wheels on it. It was great for others to reposition machinery because..
Because without wheels it was the best pry bar ever. You could slam it into narrow openings under the machine base and swivel it to scoot really heavy machines.

I actually rented one of those devices two years ago from a local rental place in Pennsylvania, when I went tp pick up my 4-4-0 locomotive. Couldn’t believe they were still in use. But a very practical and useful tool.

Glenn

I'm not certain, but isn't a johnson bar the throttle on a steam locomotive?

A steam locomotive "Johnson Bar" is the valve adjustment handle.
Forward/reverse and increase/decrease steam admission per stroke into the cylinders.
The throttle controls steam to the valves.
~RN